COTO DONANA AND EXTREMADURA - 8 DAY TOUR - DAY 1 - 27TH APRIL 2014

MALAGA AIRPORT - LAGUNA DULCE - LAGUNA FUENTE DE LA PIEDRA  - EL ROCIO AND LAGUNA MADRA DE LA MARISMA

Malaga Airport – Laguna Dulce – Laguna Fuente de Piedra – El Rocio (Laguna Madra de la Marisma)

Today I collected a party of 12 birders from Malaga Airport, they were from Cheshire and all members of Knutsford Ornithological Society, it was the 40^th anniversary of the club, quite an achievement I must say.

Paul, my Birdingpal from Gaucin was with me, he was to drive the second bus. The group all turned on time and we set off for Coto Donana by 12 noon.

Our first birding stop was at Laguna Dulce near Campillos, we had seen Griffon Vulture, Spotless Starling, Barn Swallow and a couple of Alpine Swifts along the way. At the Laguna we saw a few thousand birds sitting or feeding on or above the water. The vast majority of birds were Common Coot but we also saw, Black-necked, Great Crested and Little Grebes, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Gadwall, Common and Red-crested Pochard, Purple Swamphen and the star bird, White Headed Duck.

Birds swarmed over the water, Common Swifts were joined by hundreds of House Martins, Yellow-legged Gulls, Whiskered Terns and a few Collared Pratincoles. Birds seen along the shoreline and in the reeds were; Common Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, Great Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Goldfinches and a couple of Marsh Harriers quartered the distant reeds.

Next we visited Laguna Fuente de Piedra, our route took us high over the western shore and a mirador provided fantastic views of the throngs of Greater Flamingos breeding on the Laguna. It was a magnificent sight, I am told that 10,000 pairs breed there, it certainly looked like it.

At the visitors centre we walked around the boardwalk and the approach road to view some shallow seasonal pools, they were full of birds. Mostly they were Dunlin, Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper all looking fabulous in their summer plumage. They were joined by Common Saner, lots of Ruff, Redshank, Pied Avocet and many Black-winged Stilts. We had sera views of Gull-billed Tern and Iberian Yellow Wagtails. Time soon ran out and we had to leave this lovely place to continue our journey.

Black-winged Stilt, Whiskered Terns and curlew Sandpipers at Laguna Fuente de Piedra

 

We stopped for a late lunch on the motorway to Seville and further along the road we encountered our first Black Kites, Common Buzzards and White Storks. After passing through Seville unhindered we arrived on the edge of Coto Donana. From the bus we saw Corn Bunting, Turtle Dove, Bee-eater, Eurasian Hoopoe and lots more Black Kites.

Our final birding was done at the Laguna which sits on the edge of El Rocio which was to be our home for the next 4 nights. The light was superb and the water was covered in Common Coots, Greater Flamingos, Eurasian Spoonbills, Glossy Ibis, Little Egret and a few species of Ducks. Very few waders were present, we saw Redshank, Grennshank, Ruff and Common Sandpiper.

the view from my hotel room of the Laguna Madre de Marisma

From the Laguna we drove round into town to check into our hotel and get ready for dinner, it had been Avery long day for most of us and an early night was the order of the day.